New owner Jeff Bezos hasn’t done anything spectacular like shutting down the Washington Post’s printing presses, but the paper has been making some interesting moves lately that other media companies could learn from

Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch spoke out Sunday, saying that “Amazon is seeking a lot more profit and even more market share, at the expense of authors, bricks and mortar bookstores, and ourselves.”

Washington Post editor-in-chief Marty Baron defended his decision not to finance Ezra Klein’s vision for a news Wikipedia, saying it didn’t make financial sense. He was probably right — but the Post should have done it anyway

In one of the first tangible signs of new owner Jeff Bezos’ influence on its strategic thinking, the Washington Post has launched an ambitious national partnership aimed at expanding its digital subscriber base at relatively low cost

It looks like Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein might be leaving the newspaper, after his proposal for a standalone site funded by the Post was turned down — a decision that new owner Jeff Bezos should reconsider, for a number of reasons.

The idea that Larry Page and Sergey Brin somehow owe it to society to invest in journalism — because their company has allegedly siphoned billions of dollars in advertising revenue out of the newspaper industry — is just plain wrong-headed

Amazon is measured when it comes to revealing its future plans and is reticent to share details. And when it does, it does so with its own ends in mind. That begs the question: why did Jeff Bezos pre-announce Amazon drone delivery so early?

Kevin Kelly, is a great role model for any and every technology writer. Former editor of A Whole Earth Catalog, co-founder of The Well (an online community) and founding executive editor of Wired Magazine is a man of ideas. My reflections after meeting him last week.

Those who think journalism isn’t dying but being reborn now have two major experiments to watch — Jeff Bezos trying to revive the Washington Post and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar launching an ambitious new venture

“Do I need to go down and get the certificate that says I’m CEO of the company to get you to stop challenging me on this?” An upcoming book reveals what it’s like to work for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, privately referred to by some competitors as “sensei.”

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says he sees a future in which newspapers are like horses — a luxury item for a small group of people, not a mainstream transportation method — but his analogy is both right and wrong.

Some believe Amazon’s CEO may have bought the Washington Post for other reasons, but a profile makes it clear he is a control freak who is fascinated by broken business models and a desire to reinvent journalism.

Shutting down the printing presses at the Washington Post would impose a financial cost on the newspaper, but the benefits of such a move — both psychological and financial — would more than make up for it.

There’s been a lot written about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his acquisition of the Washington Post — here are some of the most insightful and/or interesting takes on this blockbuster deal and what it means.

Jeff Bezos’s acquisition of the Washington Post is another sign of how the mass media industry is shifting back to an earlier model — and if anyone can figure out how to make that model work in a digital age, it’s probably Jeff Bezos.

Amazon delivered its Q1 2013 earnings report Thursday afternoon, beating analyst expectations. In its release, which comes a day after renewed reports of an Amazon set-top box, the company highlighted its original television programming initiatives.

Warby Parker is opening up its first full-fledged store (beyond its showrooms) and is using sensors, Wi-Fi and other technology to understand how people use their retail space, and take that data and marry it with their online sales trends.

In a new book, former Kindle exec Jason Merkoski examines where e-reading platforms are now and how they could change in the future. If you’re looking for secrets about Jeff Bezos, though, you’re in the wrong place.

Amazon is numero uno in consumer appeal, beating out even Apple and Google, according to Harris Interactive. Also, Cloud Foundry gets big backer in NTT and states reconsider sales taxes on cloud services.

Amazon announced fourth-quarter and full year 2012 earnings report roughly in line with investor expectations Tuesday afternoon. Speaking of ebooks, CEO Jeff Bezos said, “We’re now seeing the transition we’ve been expecting.”

Amazon Web Services is, depending on who’s talking, the bedrock and revenue-generating engine for Amazon, or it’s a thin-margin sideline for the giant retailer. Either way, does it make sense for Amazon to spin it off a la EMC and VMware?

In a new research note, Macquarie Capital contends that Amazon Web Services is not only profitable, it would be a $19 billion business if it were counted as a standalone entity. That’s not peanuts. Amazon, of course, isn’t saying boo.

Big problems with Amazon Web Services’ Elastic Load Balancing service in its US-East data center nailed Netflix and Heroku on Christmas Eve and carried over into Christmas. Netflix competitor Amazon Prime Instant Video appeared to be unaffected.

Earlier this morning, Adobe Systems, the San Jose-based creative software giant announced that it was buying New York City-based design-oriented community, Behance. Since then, many have been wondering how much did Adobe shell out? Now we have the answer.

It was a frenetic week for cloud with Google touching off a storage price war on Monday. Amazon responded Wednesday and Google hit back on Thursday. Amazon Web Services announced a data warehouse and data pipeline service at its inaugural AWS: Reinvent show.

Newvem has tested its analytics with customer data for 8 months and says its key finding is that customers need to hear how use of Amazon services will make them more profitable. Saving money is one thing, making money is better.

Amazon is increasing the speed with which it is rolling out its Lockers across the country by partnering with retailers such as Staples and RadioShack. That attention is helping lift the fortunes of startups that want to take on Amazon — BufferBox being one of them.

I spent a week testing Amazon’s new e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite, which starts at $119. The verdict: The front-lit screen improves the reading experience all day long, not just at night, making this a big step up from the Kindle Touch. Here are my review and video.

Serial fiction has existed online for awhile, but with Kindle Serials, Amazon hopes to reinvent the format, in part by offering all episodes for a flat price. Serials may require a different business model than Kindle Singles, and could require Amazon to invest more money upfront.

Tablets (or any gadget) are supposed to be our companions for a long time. And in order to review them, you really have to live with them. So, after using the new Kindle Fire for about three days, all I can offer are my early impressions.

With the releases of the Kindle Paperwhite and Kobo Glo today, we saw an evolution in e-readers. The devices don’t have more tablet-like features, but they should still provide much better reading experiences than older models.

Amazon is known for cutting its customers a deal on Kindle hardware, making its money back on services. The new LTE Fire, though, appears to be an exception. Adding 4G to your Kindle costs $130 plus a non-negotiable storage upgrade. Apparently 4G is for suckers.

Tablet makers: Amazon just put you on notice with several new products, all of which are low in price and high in content. The new Kindle Fire HD line brings high-definition to Amazon’s tablets as well as an innovative, but limited, 4G LTE plan.

As executives contemplate the emergence of cloud computing, it’s important that they understand the questions they need to ask about why they’d adopt the new IT paradigm. Those deciding should consider the history and decisions made by Borders, the bookstore chain. Its execs chose poorly.

In June, the U.S. State Department was close to a $16.5 million, no-bid deal with Amazon that would have provided Kindles to overseas programs. State has now withdrawn its request for proposal. It plans to “conduct additional market research” and open up to more vendors.

Amazon (s AMZN) disappointed investors with its second-quarter earnings Thursday, reporting plunging profits and results below Wall Street expectations. The company reported $12.83 billion in revenue, up 29 percent over last year but missing estimates of $12.9 billion, and predicts an operating loss for Q3.

Like it or not, sweeping software bugs are just part and parcel with operating the largest computing systems the world has ever seen. Although Amazon is already fixing the problems that caused its latest outage, this won’t be the last we see.

Good way for a book to become a NYT bestseller: Have Jeff Bezos write about it on Amazon’s homepage. That’s what happened to Jessica Park, whose self-pubbed “Flat-Out Love” got a Bezos shoutout on June 18. This week, it hits the NYT ebook list at #25.

Amazon and the U.S. State Department have a deal: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will announce the global launch of the Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative on Wednesday, June 20 at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

UK bookstore chain Waterstones has signed an agreement with Amazon to sell the Kindle in its 300 stores and “launch new e-reading services.” The news is a blow for Barnes & Noble, which was rumored to be working with Waterstones on the Nook’s international launch.

After bootstrapping itself for more than five years, New York City-based Behance, an online destination for creative galleries and portfolios, has finally turned to outside funding, securing a $6.5 million investment from Union Square Ventures and a host of investors including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Amazon and Eucalyptus announced a partnership that gives corporate customers a chance to bridge their private clouds with Amazon’s cloud that includes services such as S3 and EC2. It is a sign that Jeff Bezos’ company is aggressively moving to keep competition at bay.

Amazon’s shiny Kindle Fire may be the sizzle, but Amazon Web Services — which pair vast compute power and customer behavior data to speed up browsing by anticipating a user’s next move — are the steak, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a Wired interview.

How much wisdom can one glean from a 20-minute chat with Professor Clay Christensen? A lot. Here are notable highlights from the author of The Innovator’s Dilemma. We talk about Steve Jobs, innovation and the incorrect focus on short term thinking and trouble with IRR.

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On Wednesday Amazon announced several new devices, including the Kindle Fire tablet, which some claim is the iPad’s first real competitor. And while there’s some truth to that assertion, distinct differences in the two companies’ hardware offerings and business models suggest Amazon’s success won’t come at the expense of Apple’s.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire is now a known quantity, thanks to details from Amazon executives. The Android-based tablet has an attractive price, but to get there, it cut so many corners it probably won’t make much of a dent in Apple’s market lead.

Marrying ecommerce with solar isn’t a new idea, but in Japan, the nuclear disaster in March this year has inspired one Internet giant to not only start selling solar panels online but also offering financial options.

In 1991, Walmart reported revenue of over $44B, an increase of 35% over the prior year. In 2011 Amazon.com will report revenue of $49B, an increase of 43% over the prior year. Amazon.com is the Walmart of our era (vendor dislikes and all.)

Bill Gates has positioned himself as a champion of energy innovation to solve climate change problems. Still, he’s surprised by how tough it is to get political support for boosting R&D spending and wondered if “perhaps we are not patient enough.”

Looks like Bill Gates isn’t the only Internet titan interested in backing nuclear power innovation. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions, has joined a $19.5 million round of funding for nuclear fusion startup General Fusion

Amazon.com’s chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, in talking about the future of Kindle says he thinks it won’t be long before Amazon is “selling more electronic books than we are physical books.” He shares his Kindle ambitions with The New York Times. Here is a summary.

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos charmed everyone at this week’s D6 Conference with his optimism for Kindle, but I got him to talk about Amazon Web Services and his company’s efforts in cloud computing. Here is a short excerpt from that conversation, captured on my Sanyo Xacti. Watch video below the fold.